Thorns and Roses
by ImaginaryFlower
Summary: Gumi grew up high in her lonely tower, far from anyone or anything. So who is this strange boy in the middle of her tower? The story of Rapunzel turned Vocaloid and twisted a bit. One-shot for Cherry Neko 15.


**Thorns and Roses**

**Gumi grew up high in her lonely tower, far from anyone or anything. So who is this strange boy in the middle of her tower? The story of Rapunzel turned Vocaloid and twisted a bit.**

**Pairing(s): GumixPiko, MikuxTei,**

**Rating: T**

**Genre(s): Romance, adventure, fantasy, humor, friendship**

**Okay! I've been meaning to write for this pairing for a while and Cherry Neko 15 requested this little story, so I've finally gone and done it.**

**As I said above, this is for Cherry Neko 15 simply because she is amazing. And also because she wrote me a poem. But mainly because she's amazing.**

**Anyway, I haven't had a lot of practice with rewriting fairy tales with Vocaloids. I don't even know the story of Rapunzel very well. I Google'd it and found the original, complete with many different versions of the ending, all of which were different than the one we usually hear. In one, the prince was blinded, although the ending was happy****enough. In another, there was no happy ending. In yet another, Rapunzel's hair grows long and pretty again after being touched by the prince. I ignored all of those options, though I was tempted to blind Piko because I am a cruel writer (I was also tempted to kill him but I'd rather have people think I actually have a heart (even though I don't)). But I didn't do that! I kind of simplified the story. Please no one yell at me for getting anything wrong. I never intended to make it a perfect comparison anyway.**

**Without further ado, here is the story!**

**/**

Growing up alone was a sad ordeal. Gumi lost count of the times she found herself creating friends to play with. This habit didn't stop until the summer she turned twelve. At least, that's when she admitted to stopping. The truth was she hadn't stopped talking aloud to those imaginary friends until she was fifteen. Sometimes, she still longed for that childlike hope and the ability to think up her own friends. But now, at nineteen, Gumi found herself growing more and more lonely, hopelessness plaguing her and fighting back her courage. If only she could convince her mother (or gatekeeper, as she thought of the woman in her head) to allow her out of the tower. There was no way anyone would ever stumble across her skyward-reaching prison. At least, that's what she figured. Her mother seemed to think so, too.

How wrong they both were.

/

There had never been much to do in the tower. Sometimes, she read. Other times, she drew sloppy pictures that somehow turned out lovely. As a last resort to keep away the monster known as boredom, Gumi would take a brush and attempt to smooth her long hair down. Having such a tangle of hair, especially at such a length, could prove to be far more irritating than anyone would ever guess, even considering the "magical properties" her hair had. Quite frankly, Gumi had always found the whole thing silly. Then again, she knew magic existed. Her mother, a very accomplished enchantress (she preferred sorceress), was proof of that.

But magical hair? The absurdity. Of course, that didn't make it any less true.

It was probably just her mother's way of keeping Gumi from cutting her hair. Not once in her nineteen years had her mother allowed Gumi to cut her hair, resulting in the insane amount that she actually had. Not even Miku, her sister, had hair quite as long as Gumi. The day Gumi convinced her mother to let her cut her hair would be the day Gumi could leave the tower. Why should Miku be allowed to live elsewhere, out in the big, scary world, while Gumi was stuck in this tower?

Unknown to Gumi, she would soon leave behind the tower and her mother. Though the day it happened would start as ordinarily as any other.

Gumi had read through her book of fairy tales for the thousandth time that month. Setting aside the book, she sighed and absentmindedly stroked her delicate green hair. It wound around her feet and piled up on her bed, five feet away. There had been a struggle to braid it earlier, which resulted in a five-minute sulk and the quick resignation of the poor girl.

God, she hated her hair. If she ever managed to get it cut, it would be as short as a boy's. Not that she had ever actually met a boy, since Miku, her mother, and Gumi herself were all girls. She saw them in her books. She read about them. It was odd to think they existed at all.

In the middle of these thoughts, Gumi's attention caught on a sudden burst of light in the very center of her tower. The room was large, accommodating an entire house in one single space, but Gumi knew it like the back of her hand. There were no glowing lights, not even from candles. After all, it was midday.

Standing, Gumi approached the strange phenomenon, prepared to dive aside if it turned hostile. It was magic, though what kind, she didn't know. Somehow, it had appeared her tower and it didn't have a thing to do with Miku or her mother.

She jumped back as the light, which could have fit in her palm moments before, pulsed and grew in size, now larger than her head. Quickly, she went to hide behind her wardrobe, eyes peaking around the side to examine the light.

In the next few seconds, it pulsed brighter twice and exploded throughout the room, expanding to fill every, near-invisible space. Gumi shut her eyes and pushed herself into the small space between the wall and the back of her wardrobe.

_It would have been smarter to hide _in_ the wardrobe,_ she realized, feeling stupid. Ignoring her thoughts, she pulled her arms in tight and squeezed her eyes shut until the light had finally dissipated. When it did, Gumi quietly poked her head back around the edge of the wooden wardrobe.

In the center of her tower stood a person. They were young and small, a silver robe drawn around their shoulders. Gumi couldn't tell completely, but it seemed that this person was a boy, only a bit younger than herself. She couldn't see his face as his back was to her, but she gathered him in as best she could.

His hair was the softest-looking white she had ever seen, shining silver in the sun that peaked through her window. His skin, what little of it she could catch sight of, was quite pale, with a tint of color. He looked very feminine, despite Gumi having not yet seen his face. It was his build that made him seem so; he was short, only a bit taller than her, with the figure of a dancer. No muscles bulged below his cloak and his hands, which were held out in front of him, palms together as if in prayer, were delicate and soft-looking.

When he finally turned to gauge his surroundings, Gumi saw his face. Despite the look of confusion and frustration on his face, he looked quite attractive. His eyes were the strangest Gumi had ever encountered (not that she encountered a lot). One was a light blue, colored as grandly as a cloudless sky, while the other was a soft green. His nose ended in a gentle point and his chin curved into a sharper one.

When he opened his mouth, the spell ended, and Gumi decided he wasn't quite as attractive as she had thought before.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded, glaring down at his hands, which he had pulled apart. Gumi saw nothing special about those hands, but he seemed to.

"Where did I end up this time?" he muttered under his breath, accompanying his question with a sigh. "God, Teacher's going to be mad."

He hadn't noticed her yet, but it was only a matter of time. Quietly, Gumi slipped along the wall, around to her bed, where her heavy book of fairy tales still lay. Unfortunately, her hair had other ideas. She hadn't noticed it in front of her, tripping and releasing a gasp of surprise as her foot caught it the long, green locks. The boy jumped and turned to see her fall to the floor, barely catching herself on her hands.

"Who are you?" he demanded, glaring down at her as she sat back on her heels, rubbing her wrist delicately.

"I should be asking you!" Gumi retorted. "This is _my _tower!"

The boy glanced around when she said that. Noticing the window, he quickly went to it, leaning out and glancing down. "Woah. We're pretty high up," he said, eyebrows leaping up his forehead. Well, Gumi thought they did. It was hard to see his eyebrows at all.

"It is a _tower_," Gumi pointed out, finally standing. She looped her hair around her left arm loosely, making sure she wouldn't trip over it again. She doubted this boy would come after her anyway, but it wouldn't do to look foolish again.

Her curiosity fueled her next move. Quietly, she walked to the window, where the boy was still gazing out into the world beyond, and reached out a hand. With one finger, she poked him lightly in the shoulder. He glared at her.

"What was that?" he demanded.

"You're real," Gumi breathed, shock running through her. "I thought you were an illusion conjured by my sister. But you're real." Her eyes widened. "You're a boy!"

"Brilliant observation. What of it?" the boy snapped.

"I've never met a boy before," Gumi replied in awe. At that, his face morphed into some form of confusion. Then, disbelief.

"Are you serious?" he asked, crossing his arms below his cloak. "Where've you been, under a rock?"

"I have never left this tower," she said defensively. "No one comes around here except my mother and sister. Of course I've never met a boy before."

He laughed in response. This made her blood boil and she decided she did not like this intruder. All the same, he was the first person she had ever seen from the outside world. She wouldn't let this opportunity slip away from her.

"You're so strange," he told her. "I'm Piko. What's your name?"

"Gumi," she replied shortly.

"Well, Gumi, I don't know how I got here, but it's been nice meeting you. I can't stay, but maybe I'll stop back in sometime," he told her, all traces of negative attitude gone.

"What? You're leaving already?" she asked. "But-"

"I'll visit tomorrow," he offered. "Seems like this tower can get awfully lonely. What do you say?"

Gumi blinked. "Ye-yeah," she agreed. "I'd like that." Even if the visit was from someone as weird and rude as Piko.

"Excellent," he replied. "Later, then."

And he was gone in a soft flash of light, leaving Gumi to her silent tower room.

For the next few weeks, Piko did visit. Sometimes Gumi would wake up in the middle of the night to find him staring at her through the dark, leaning over and gazing straight into her eyes. It wasn't unusual for him to miss a few days then appear for only a few minutes. Gumi learned little about him, save for his occupation as a warlock apprentice. That's how he had managed to find her tower. A teleportation spell gone wrong. How he had managed to get through the incredible shield spells and hexes set around her tower was another matter that she never brought up. Her mother and her sister never found out that she was getting this strange visitor, though there were a few close calls. One day, Miku chose to visit and share some cake she had bought with Gumi. It was a rare show of affection and Gumi appreciated it. What she didn't appreciate was emergency dematerialization Piko preformed, taking her book of fairy tales with him.

Another time, her mother was visiting. Piko had attempted to teleport in, as he'd later explain. On Gumi's end, all she saw were popping lights and a scowl from her mother. The scowl wasn't new but the lights were. Apparently, the magic of another person alerted him to the fact that he probably shouldn't be appearing at that exact moment. His next visit happened three days later, starting with a complaint about magical barriers and ending with a rather angry growl as he departed. Gumi didn't understand much about magic, despite her mother and sister both being witches.

Piko started asking questions after about five weeks. Until then, he seemed to be figuring things out for himself. He'd spend his time telling Gumi about his life and the outside world. She found it fascinating that he lived in the palace with the prince and the rest of the royal family, though he often seemed less than interested in that topic of conversation. However, he was growing tired of discussing himself and the everyday occurrences that so interested Gumi. So he started asking about her life.

First it was "Do you live here all alone?"

Then, "Is your mother a sorceress?"

Following that would have been "You do know that there's a huge magic shield around this tower of yours, right?"

With the final one being "Don't you want to leave?"

It was that last one that really did it.

The last question was asked three times before Gumi finally gave in and answered, revealing that, yes, she did indeed wish to leave. She wanted desperately to visit a town, to interact with other people, to not be alone all the time. She loved Miku and she respected her mother's wishes but the longing she felt to leave her tower and never look back ached in her like a poison she simply couldn't rid herself of. It swelled more every day, begging to be released, to ease the tension she felt in her limbs and in her mind. Though she did not say this in as many words, Piko understood her desperation. So he offered her a way out.

They had to plan it properly. Piko explained some complicated magical mumbo-jumbo that she didn't get. It seemed to boil down to the fact that her mother would notice if she happened to vanish from the tower.

"It's a spell," Piko had attempted to explain once again as the confused look on Gumi's face only grew. "Sort of like a tether. Or maybe a leash. Anyway, one end's connected to the tower, and the other's-"

"Connected to me," Gumi jumped in, suddenly realizing exactly what he meant. Why hadn't he put it so simply in the first place? She knew nothing of magic!

"Right, yeah. So we've either got to cut the leash or extend it. I think that if you tried to leave, it would snap back, pulling you with it," Piko continued. "So it'll take me about two weeks or so to find and learn any counter spell it may have. Can you wait that long to leave?"

Gumi nodded enthusiastically. She had waited years. A few weeks would be nothing.

She wasn't counting on one factor. Neither of them really were.

/

The day that Piko _finally_ felt comfortable preforming the spell arrived, along with the familiar sparkle and flash that signaled the boy's appearance. His entrance was far grander than usual, swimming with gold and green pops of light as he made himself known. Gumi hopped from her bed, doing her best to keep her hair out of the way.

"Alright," Piko began. "I'm about 97% sure I got the spell right. Your mother shouldn't be able to trace it."

"Amazing!" Gumi exclaimed. "You're very powerful!" Despite a rather rocky relationship between the two, Gumi understood that he did have good qualities. His dedication to his work and his knowledge of magic were two such qualities that she couldn't help but admire. She constantly wonder why she herself knew so little about the art, as her mother and sister were both quite accomplished at it themselves.

"I've been told," Piko couldn't hide his pride in his abilities, though try as he might. Honestly, the attention he received in his own family because of it was embarrassing, though anyone else was welcome to compliment him. Something about the way his sisters gushed over "their talented little brother" made his face turn strawberry red and his knees weak.

"Are you ready, then?" he asked.

"Most assuredly," she confirmed, moving to stand beside him.

"Wait," he stopped her before she could take his hand. It was an assumption that she would need to do so to travel with him. Why else would she wish to hold his hand? For a moment she thought that said assumption was incorrect and began to feel embarrassed. That is, until Piko corrected her.

"You can't go walking around with that hair of yours," he told her. "It'll get in the way. Long hair may be in fashion as of late, but I'm pretty sure people might question hair of that length."

Gumi blinked. She hadn't thought of that. Honestly, she had thought that many parents probably withheld hair-cutting-privileges from their children. After all, that's all she knew.

"You're right," Gumi agreed, gently combing a hand through her hair. "Have you a knife?"

Piko grinned and slipped a hand into his apprentice robes, revealing the glint of a silver blade. "I always come prepared," he assured.

"I'm sure," she replied reproachfully. "Go ahead, then. And mind my ears."

He smirked in a way that made her more than nervous and swung around behind her in order to cut her hair. Before he could raise the knife, however, they heard a voice from outside.

"Megumi?" the familiar feminine voice of her mother spoke far below, filtering in from the ever-open window. "Gumi? Your mother wishes for a word with you!"

Piko and Gumi shared a quick look before she gestured wildly to her wardrobe, where he would be more than hidden. He nodded and scampered rather gracelessly over to the wardrobe, nearly tripping on the hem of his cloak.

"Yes, mother!" she called loudly, biting her lip and smoothing her skirts. She knew her panic showed clearly, especially to one as observant as her mother. She had had little practice with lying over the years. What a desperate time to start.

Taking a deep, calming breath, she went to her window and, as per usual, extended her hair downwards. Her mother had always claimed that popping in would be a waste of valuable magic, though now Gumi believed that her mother simply wasn't capable of entering her tower using such means. The shield around her tower was quite powerful, so powerful that the one who cast just could not break through with magic. Thus, her magic hair rope, which would serve as a guide through the shield. At least, that's how Piko had described it. He had such a way with words.

Gumi quite enjoyed sarcasm, she was finding.

When her mother hand completed the climb, she stood before her daughter, eyes scanning first the young girl, then the tower. Finding nothing out of place, she narrowed her gaze and focused back on Gumi, who couldn't help but fidget. She did not like that look. The way it probed and examined her, as though reading her soul, made her feel vulnerable. Exposed. Weak. She did not like it at all.

"Yes, mother?" Gumi urged. How long was she planning to stay?

_Not long. Oh, please, just leave so I may as well!_ she heard herself shout internally.

"I see it was a mistake, then," the woman announced. So many questions rose inside Gumi as she said this and her tongue fought itself to keep from spouting them. With this proclamation, Gumi expected her mother to leave. She was wrong.

In a flash, the woman spun to face the wardrobe, setting it alight with the sparks she sent from the tips of her fingers. Gumi shrieked and jumped, watching in horror as flames leapt up the wood, eating burn marks through the soft, oak finish.

"Why would you do that?" Gumi demanded, grabbing hold if her mother's arm urgently. All of her clothes, all important possession, gone up in flames. Piko, too. Oh, God, what would happen to him?

"Let go, Gumi. You lied to me," a cold gaze turn itself on her. "You've been harboring an outsider."

"So you're just going to kill him?" she shrieked. "Why would you? That's horrible!" Even if Piko hadn't been, dare she say it, a friend, she knew it would be wrong to kill him. It was wrong to kill anybody. How could she do that?

"You're a monster!" Gumi yelled, pulling away from her. "Put it out! Put out the fire!"

But the flames grew thicken and taller, reaching higher and higher to consume the wardrobe like a hungry python. The writing feeling in Gumi's gut turned to burning rage and fear as she watched.

"You have lied to me," her mother replied. "Let this be your lesson. I hope, for your sake, you learn it the first time around." With a snap of her fingers, the flames dispersed, vanishing like mist in the sun.

The charred wood barely held together. It seemed at though it would collapse inward before her very eyes. Her heart hammered in panic, though her legs refused to move. The cold gaze of her mother was now fixed on the now-destroyed wardrobe, where a body could be found among the ashes of Gumi's personal effects.

"You're horrible," Gumi whispered. "Why?"

"Oh, sweet. I was only protecting you," her mother swooned. That look of pure ice vanished to be replaced with adoring pity. "He would have taken you. Taken you out into that big, frightening world. You should never think to go there. It would unravel you."

"I'm quite sure she would want to find that out for herself, thanks," a voice announced loudly. Gumi spun to see the unharmed (though slightly ash-stricken) face of Piko, whose grin could not have been wider.

"Piko!" Gumi cried in relief. Her mother, however, felt some very different emotions.

"Warlock!" she hissed, all previous pity erased. "Of course. Nasty little things. Horrible knock-off of witches."

Piko raised an eyebrow. Gumi couldn't take her eyes away from him. Yes, the bottom of his cloak was riddled with burns and the tips of his hair were singed, but all in all, he seemed perfectly fine. What sort of magic could hold flames at bay? All it took to create them was a spark. But to end them, to protect from them, would be quite an accomplishment.

Could it be that Piko had more power stored away in that skinny body of his than her mother did? If so, they might just have their way out of here.

"I don't think I actually feel very insulted," he said. "The attempted murder was actually a nice boost for my ego. Apparently, I'm important enough to kill."

_Oh, dear. This is _completely _like him,_ Gumi inwardly groaned. Couldn't he just _not_ talk and get them both out of there alive?

_He probably just likes the sound of his own voice,_ she decided heartlessly.

"Now, I really don't want to cause any more trouble than necessary. I'll just go along with Gumi-"

"You stay away from that child!" her mother commanded. "She's mine and she will never leave this tower!"

Gumi flinched at the possessive quality her voice had taken. It was dark and cold and greedy. It didn't make any sense. Why was she so obsessed with keeping Gumi locked away? Why would she go as far as to kill to keep her there?

And why, oh why, was it so hard to stow her questions and focus?

"You weren't kidding about the overprotective bit," Piko told her. "Come on. I think I have enough power to teleport out of here." He offered his hand, reaching across the ten feet between them to show her that, yes, he would take her away. She would never fear being stuck in that tower for the rest of her life. She could leave.

Gumi took a step forward before she felt herself freeze. She couldn't move a single limb. It was as if she had been turned to stone. Only her eyes, desperate orbs of green, could move, locking onto Piko's and refusing to move. He looked just as scared as she felt, dropping his hand to his side.

"What's so horrible about the outside world that it would drive you to such extreme lengths?" Piko demanded, turning his gaze from Gumi to her mother. The short mop of dark green hair atop the woman's hair was struggling against an incoming breeze flipping into her line of sight. It was a dramatic look, the insane stare of many a villain caught in those older eyes. Gumi had read many descriptions of cruel witches and evil queens in her books, though none could have prepared her for the real look of madness, especially on such a familiar face. It chilled her to the bone. Had she not been frozen in place, she would have shivered.

"They would have taken her! Taken her away from me!" she shrieked.

"Of course they would have. You're mad," Piko replied.

"She should never be allowed out there! _She isn't allowed to live without me!_" her mother roared. "She should have been mine! Mine! Not hers!"

Piko shot Gumi a look. Obviously, he was mostly trying to stall.

_Is he thinking of a spell that might save me?_ Gumi wondered. _How much magic does he have? Not much, I think. How are we ever go to get out of this mess?_

"Not… who's?" Piko asked haltingly.

"You'll never understand! _I was supposed to be her mother!_"

Gumi understood exactly what she was saying, though her mind fought it.

"You aren't her mother?" Piko shouted over an uproar of angry wind. "_Then who is?"_

_I'd quite like to know myself but God, Piko. I'd like to be able to say so,_ Gumi thought fiercely. It did nothing to get her noticed.

"I am, of course! It doesn't matter who she was born to anymore!" the woman formerly known as her mother announced angrily. "I've been her mother for eighteen years and you are not taking her away from me!"

Everyone was shocked when, at that very moment, a gasp sounded and the point of a knife rose the cloth of the woman's dress. A teal head could be seen peaking up over her shoulder right before the witch fell, a red stain spreading across her back around the knife that sprung like a wilted flower from the broken and damaged skin.

In that moment, the moment that the tower witch took her last breath, Gumi could feel herself unfreeze. And she knew that she was free.

"Miku?" Gumi asked, blinking as she turned to face the fallen woman and her true daughter. Though, now that she thought about it, Miku could also be a stolen child. That's what she was, right? A kidnapped youth who knew nothing but the kindness of a forcefully assumed mother. "How-"

"The shield fell," her sister (?) replied simply. She had always been a girl of few words and quiet tones. Firm yet quiet. Delicate yet stony. That would probably never change.

"The shield-? How?" Gumi repeated. She turned to Piko, who tapped his nose softly and winked.

_You clever bastard,_ she thought.

"She was going to kill him," Miku spoke softly. Her usual brown pants and loose white short ("peasant boy clothes" her mo- the woman dead before them often said) were covered by her worn and aged cloak. Her long pigtails fell messily against her shoulders. While the girl was pretty, she was scrappy and boyish, unlike Gumi. The two saw themselves as polar opposites and best friends. But what would happen now?

"Yeah. Yeah, she was. Thanks, then, um…" Piko shot Gumi a desperate look that clearly read _Help_.

It wasn't like she knew what to do in this situation, either.

"Are you leaving, then?" Miku directed her question at Gumi.

The green haired girl fought a stammer. "Yeah. That's the plan."

"Good. I'd hate to stay here any longer," Miku replied evenly.

"You're coming?" Piko demanded clearly not on board with the idea.

"I go where she goes. We are still sisters at heart," Miku replied. Gumi felt a warm glow of happiness fill her chest and spread in a slow tingle over her body. She recognized this as love. And she did love Miku. She was her older, wiser, more collected sister. She hoped that wouldn't change while she had breath in her body.

PIko sighed. "Okay, fine. But I'm all out of magic."

"Out of magic?" Miku questioned a bit blandly.

"I'm still an apprentice! I've been at this for five years. Give me a break," Piko huffed. Gumi could swear a spasm of a smile flitted across Miku lips but it was gone before she could properly identify it.

"Miku's a witch," Gumi pointed out. "Do you think you could manage a teleportation spell?"

Miku thought a moment. "No doubt I could, if I knew where it was I am intended to deliver us."

"No problem! I'll run a link through you and it should lead you right back to my room," Piko informed them. "Although I may have a bit of explaining to do once we arrive, I'm pretty sure my teacher will understand!"

/

She did not understand. It didn't help that Piko accidently put off telling her for so long, either.

After arriving, Piko had instantly swept his cloak away from his shoulders and folded it neatly on his cot. His room was small but warm, not something one could be against. The walls were smooth stone and a barred window looked out onto a forest. After the procedure with his cloak was complete, he instructed the girls to follow him. Before they could reach anywhere significant, Piko's mini run-through of the castle (_castle!)_ they were in was interrupted.

"Damn you, Piko! I've been searching for you everywhere!" a feminine voice demanded as a girl with familiar silver hair rushed towards them. "Oh! Friends of yours? I haven't seen them before."

"Yes, yes. What do you want, Tei?" Piko asked.

"It's not what _I_ want. Prince Len is the one pestering all the servants to find you," Tei replied. "Who are they, then? It's not every day I meet someone new."

Piko's face went very pale. "Why didn't you mention anything sooner?" he hissed. "Can you watch them for a few minutes while I connect with our prince?" He seemed rushed and frazzled by the mere mention of this "Prince Len."

"No problem," Tei told him. "He should be in the courtyard. Flirting, no doubt. He was there naught but five minutes ago."

"Great, thanks," his next words were directed at her and Miku. "This is my older sister, Tei. You'll be fine with her. I hope."

"Shoo. I don't think he'll resist sending out a search party," Tei stated, a fond smile filling the entirety of her face as her younger brother scrambled down the hall, footsteps echoing loudly off the stone walls. With a different smile, she turned back to the new arrivals.

"So," Tei began. "Are either of you hungry?"

And thus Gumi found herself seating at a wooden table before a plate of bread, cheese, grapes, and chicken. The water was the freshest she had ever drunk, though it had a distinctly different taste from the water she drank up in her tower. It was so odd, getting used to a different flavor of water. How far away from that tower were they?

"Don't be shy," Tei instructed them, though her red eyes seemed to cling more to Miku than to Gumi. She sat across from the two, hands folding under her chin to prop her head up.

"Thank you very much," Gumi said, sending a small prayer upwards in thanks of the meal and her (relatively) safe escape. Miku nodded silently in agreement and picked a grape from the vine on her plate, examining it carefully before popping it in her mouth

"There! It's not poisoned, I swear," Tei told the pigtailed girl. "The way you act, it might as well be." She held a teasing grin on her lips as she watched Miku carefully cut away a slice of cheese and place it atop her bread. What was that girl's fascination with her? It was a bit spooky to Gumi. Then again, this could get be how many people here acted. She had no way of knowing.

"Doesn't talk much, does she?" Tei directed this question at Gumi, who swallowed quickly in order to reply.

"No. She's always been a bit quiet," Gumi confirmed.

"I bet I could make her vocal."

Gumi inhaled a mouthful of water, choking and retching in a half surprised, half amused state of "do I laugh or do I cry?" Miku's face tinted faintly red, though it was barely noticeable. Whether Tei was paying Gumi any mind or not, neither girl really knew.

"Don't die," Tei stated. "Explaining that to Piko would be a mess." Miku rolled her eyes and caught Gumi's gaze, though she quickly looked away.

_I've never seen her so embarrassed, _Gumi thought._ Actually, I don't think I've ever even seen her embarrassed before._

She prayed that Piko would return soon. If not to save her, then to save Miku.

/

The boy arrived soon enough, though when he did, Miku seemed considerably more comfortable with Tei. Actually, they had started a rather nice conversation. Gumi had discovered that Tei was an ex-witch, training to be a woman of medicine like her late mother. She discovered that her elder sister, Haku, wished to train to be a knight. The first female knight to guard the prince closely, the silver-haired girl boasted. She was clearly proud of her sister's accomplishments. And why shouldn't she be? The girl sounded impressive.

Tei requested that they leave the two of them together while Piko gave Gumi a tour. Tei insisted that she herself would give Miku a proper tour later, after their conversation. PIko rolled his eyes but agreed.

Together, Piko and Gumi traced the halls downwards, winding down a long staircase until they reach one of the lowest floors. The air had grown more stale and far colder. Gumi could tell it was below ground.

"You'll be meeting my teacher," Piko murmured as they stopped outside a closed door. "Be respectful and answer as honestly as possible if she asks any questions. She can be a bit intimidating, but she won't hurt you. She might give you a horrible glare, which is basically the same thing sometimes, but I've lived through my years of being her apprentice." He cut himself off with a bit of a chuckle. "I'm rambling. Sorry. I suppose I'm just nervous."

"Must be some teacher," Gumi stated. She could image an evil glare behind glasses. An aged face gazing back at her with so much knowledge that she must look tiny. Probably an old grump, like the wizards and warlocks in her stories.

What awaited her was anything but.

Piko knocked three times, deftly and evenly. A loud affirmation could be heard inside and Piko shuddered before entering.

Inside was a large room. Books were stacked on overcrowded shelves, piled on the bed, littering the floor. A fire crackled warning in the hearth as the two entered stoically, both prepared and completely unprepared for what might happen. There was only one human there, though a lizard could be seen sleeping a pillow on the bed. She had her back to them, revealing long pink hair that shone softly. Gumi felt the need to stroke her newly shortened locks but held back the urge. The back of her neck did feel a bit cold, though.

"Hello, Teacher," Piko began, bowing his head ever so slightly. Gumi was surprised. So this woman, this soft-looking, female character was his teacher? It was so odd. That's not how her books had told the story.

The woman turned and Miku was faced with even blue eyes. They burned like tiny suns, full of so much age and power, as though it would take billions of years for them to finally burn out.

"Hello, Piko," his teacher replied. "It's lovely to see you. Did the prince manage to catch you?"

Piko bit his lip lightly before answering. "Yes, he did, sir."

The woman nodded. "Good, good. Now, please explain to me where you have been and who is now in our company?"

"This is Gumi. She's just arrived with her sister."

"From where?"

"A tower in the south. It's a ways away."

"How did you come by it, then?" she asked calmly.

"I messed up a teleportation spell," Piko confessed. "I ended up in her tower. Teacher, she's been trapped there for an awfully long time. Is it possible we could find her a place to stay?"

His teacher blinked softly in response before standing. She walked towards them, carefully examining Gumi from the top of her head, past her plain brown dress and down on to her feet, which were bare. She had never had a need for shoes before and so did not own any. An eyebrow was raised though no word passed the teacher's lips.

"How old are you?" the woman asked.

"Nineteen," was Gumi's near-instant reply.

"How long have you been in that tower?"

"About nineteen years," Gumi replied.

"I see," the woman said. "My name is Luka. What might your full one be?"

"Megumi." The knot in Gumi's throat grew more pronounced and tougher to swallow down.

"Ah. See, that is very interesting," Luka said quietly. "A long time ago, going on twenty years, a distant kingdom faced a bit of a tragedy. The brother of the king had his daughter stolen away. That family was known for that green hair on your head."

Gumi stiffened, unable to meet Piko's eyes. So she was royalty?

"Unfortunately, the babe was illegitimate, birthed by a servant girl. The prince's wife was suspected to have taken the child, as she soon disappeared after the incident," Luka continued. "No one ever found them."

"I suppose they'll just have to stay lost," Gumi replied. "It's a shame, though, if the prince is all alone."

Luka offered a soft smile. "No. He had married again and was blessed with a son."

"Oh. That's a happy ending," Gumi smiled back. "All fairy tales need a happy ending."

/

Gumi got off without so much as a single glare. Piko, however, earned a month of extra chores. Gumi couldn't help but giggle at the boy's misfortune. Honestly, she liked Luka. She was quite nice to her. Maybe she would have a chance to speak with her again soon.

"You will be sharing housing with Tei and Haku," Luka told them. "They can easily make room. I assume your sister will find this fitting." It wasn't a question but Gumi nodded in agreement and departed with a 'thank you.'

"Brilliant," Piko grumbled. "A month of feeding the royal horses and cleaning the prince's sword. Not to mention the damn sweeping. What do they pay servants to do, exactly?"

"It builds character," Gumi teased lightly. "I'll help. It's the least I can do."

"It was quite an adventure. It'll be nice to see you every day," Piko agreed.

Gumi stopped in her tracks. "Did you just say something nice to me?" she asked.

"Shut it. I meant that I can't believe I have to see your ugly face everywhere I turn," Piko pulled a face, though he couldn't hide his blush.

"Sure you did," Gumi smiled and began to walk again. "But I know the truth." She sang that last sentence lightly and teasingly.

"Cruel," Piko stated.

"No, not cruel," Gumi was feeling a bit bold. "It just goes to show how much I care."

Piko raised an eyebrow. "Oh, dear Lord. Am I going to have to deal with this every day?"

"I wasn't kidding." In one fell swoop, she placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "After all, you are the prince who rescued me from my tower."

And with that, she skipped away, knowing that Piko would follow her as her heart hammered and she tried to focus on Miku instead of the loud footsteps of the boy behind her.

Then again, she was probably still with Tei. So maybe they should just avoid the embarrassment and pretend those two didn't exist.

Gumi had a feeling that both sets of siblings would certainly have interesting romances ahead of them.

**/**

**Screw editing. I hate rereading my own writing. It gives me a headache.**

**Like? Dislike? Meh? Kill-it-with-fire?**

**I would love to hear from anyone who has any opinion about this at all!**


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